Chinese Activists Fear Olympic ‘Holidays’

Li Fangping, a defense lawyer for two of China’s well-known human rights cases, expects to be under 24-hour police surveillance during next month’s Olympic Games.

“I will definitely have my freedom restricted,” Li says. “But I could also be placed under illegal house arrest, or taken outside of the city to a remote holiday resort and completely deprived of my rights.”

Another lawyer, Zhang Xingshui, says that could happen to him, too. During President Bush’s visit to China in 2005, Zhang says, he “was kidnapped by the police for seven days” and held in a Beijing hotel without access to a telephone.

“I hope the government will not take me away again during the Olympics, but it might happen,” says Zhang, who hopes to catch the China-USA basketball matchup for a medal.